Offender employment outcomes, update to March 2026
Annual release on employment status of offenders post release from custody or on community sentences. Covers employment rates, and those who are unable to work.
Applies to England and Wales
Documents
Details
The ‘Offender employment outcomes’ statistics publication covers the employment status of people on probation, including breakdowns on region, sex, age, ethnicity, offence type and sentence length.
Due to the introduction of Probation Reset, there has been a break in the time series for Employment at 6 weeks post release from custody (MI016 and MI016R) and Employment at 6 months post release or community disposal (MI017a, MI017Ra, MI017b and MI017Rb). Publication data for previous performance years can be accessed on the offender employment outcome statistics collection page.
There is discontinuity in comparability due to the break in the time series. Data from May 2024 onwards cannot be compared to data for the period up to April 2024, or any other pre–Probation Reset performance data or management information. Caution should be exercised when comparing employment figures across previous years. The 2025 release of ‘Offender employment outcomes’ was based on 11 months of performance data from May 2024 to March 2025. Figures in the 2026 publication are derived from data over a complete performance year from April 2025 to March 2026.
Pre-release access
The Offender employment outcomes, update to March 2026 publication is produced and handled by the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) analytical professionals and production staff. Pre-release access of up to 24 hours is granted to the following persons:
Ministry of Justice:
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; Permanent Secretary; Special Adviser x 3; Second Permanent Secretary; Director, Planning and Performance; Director, Probation and Reducing Reoffending Directorate; Director of Analysis; Head of Prisons, Probation and Reoffending, and Head of Profession for Statistics; Deputy Director and Chief Statistician - Prison, Probation, Reoffending and Performance, Data and Statistics; Head of HMPPS Performance; Press Officer x 3.
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS):
HMPPS Director General CEO; HMPPS Director General Probation; HMPPS Director General Prisons; HMPPS Chief Probation Officer; HMPPS Executive Director, Rehabilitation and Change; HMPPS Executive Director, Strategy and Performance; HMPPS Deputy Director of Employment, Skills and Education - Rehabilitation and Change Directorate; HMPPS Deputy Director, Accommodation and Priority Projects; HMPPS Deputy Director Performance Assurance and Risk; HMPPS Head of Assurance and Performance, Director General and Chief Operating Officer Prisons; Chief Executive, New Futures Network.